Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-09
CHAPTER XVIII.
AND AFTER.

III IrOnG OF the OOOr OF "Ine falat1oI' wa
a round flower bed filed with weeds and
flowers mixed up together like the good and
evil in the heart OF man, and to the right
hand side Of this bed stood an old wooden
chair with the back off. No sooner had John
got outside the door Of the cottage than he
became sensible that, what between one
thing and another-weariness, loss of blood
from his wound, and intense mental emotion
If he did rot sit down somewhere pretty
quickly he should follow the example set by
Jess and faint straight away. Accordingly
he made for the old chair and perched him.
self on it with gratitude. Presently he saw
Mrs. Neville coming steaming along the path
with a bottle Of brandy in her hand.
"Ah" he thought to himself, that will
just come in handy for me-. If I don't lave a
glass of brandy soon 1 shall roll off this
Internal chair-I am sure of it."
"Where is Jess" painted Mrs. Neville.
"In there" he said; "she has recovered. l,
would have been better for us both if she
hadn't" he added to himself.
"Why, bless me, Capt. Mel, how queer YOU
look" said Mrs. Neville, tanning herself with
her hat" and there is such a row going on
at the camp there; the volunteers swear that
they will attack tho military for DESERVING
them, and don't know what all; and they
simply wouldn't believe me when I said YOU
were not shot. Why, l never! Look! you,
boot is full of blood! So you were hit after
ALL
"Might l trouble you to give mo some
brandy, Mrs. Neville" said John, family.
She filled a glass she had brought with he,
half full of water from a little irrigation
furrow that ran down from the main SLUT by
the road, and then topped it up with brandy.
He drank it, and felt decidedly better.
"Dear mel" said Mrs. Neville, 'there are a
pair of you now. You should just lave seen
that girl 60 dow when she saw the body
coming along the road! l made sure that Il
was you; but it wasn't. They say that IL
was poor Jim Smith, son Of old Smith OF
Rustenburg. l tell you what it Is, Capt
Mel, you had better be careful; il that girl
isn't in love with you, she Is something very
like it. A girl does not pop over like tina for
Dick, Tom or Harry. You must forgive on
old woman like mo for speaking out plain, bu,
she is an odd girl is Jess, just like ten women
rolled into one SO far rs her mind goes, and il
you don't take care you will get into trouble,
which will be rather awkward, as YOU are
going to marry her sister. Jess isn't q girl tc
have a bit Of a tlirt to pass away the time and
have done with it, l can tell you;' and she
shook her head solemnly, as though she sus
pected him of t%rifing with his future siste,
in laws young affections, and then, withou'
waiting for an nswer turned and went int<
the cottage.
AS for John, he only groaned. What coult
he do but groan! The whole thing was sell
evident, and if ever a man felt ashamed Of
himself that man was John Mel. He was q
strictly honorable individual, and 1t cut hin
to the heart to think that no had entered
on n course which was not honorable
considering his engagement to Bessie
When he. u few minutes before, had
told Jess he loved her he had said a
disgraceful thing, however true n thing il
might be. And that was the worst Of it; ii
was true; he did love her. He felt it come
sweeping over him like a wave as sho stood
there looking at him in tho room. utterly
drowning and overpowering his affection for
Bessie, to whom he was bound by every tie OF
honor. 1t was a new and wonderful thing,
this passion that had arisen within him, as O
strong mar armed, and driven every other
affection away into the waste places of his
mind; and, unfortunately, it was an overmas
tering and, as he already guessed, an endur.
ing thing. He cursed himself in his shame
and anger as he sat there recovering his equi
librium m the broken chair and tying
handkerchief tight round his wound. What
a fool he had been! Why had be not waitet
to see which Of the two he really took to
Why had Jess gone away like that ant
thrown him into temptation with her pretty
sisterl He was sure now that she had caret
for him all along. Well, there it was, and {
precious bad business tool One thing he wa.
clear about; it should go no further. IIe wa:
not going to break his engagement to Bessie
it was not to be thought of. But, all the
same, he felt sorry for himself and sorry fol
Jess too.
Just then. however, the ~bandage on his leg
slipped, and the wound began to bleed SO fast
that he was fain to limp into the house for as
~sistance.
jess, who had apparently quite got ovel
her agitation, was standing by the table talk
ing to Mrs. Neville, who was persuading hel
to swallow some of the brandy she had beer
at such pains to fetch. The moment sh'
caught sight Of Johns face, which had nov
turned CHASTITY white, and saw the red lin,
trickling down his boot, she took up her la
That was lying on the table.
"You had better lie down on the old bed
stead in the little room," she said; II an
going for the doctor"
Assisted by Mrs. Neville, he was only TOT
glad to take this advice, but long before thu
doctor arrived John had followed jess
example, and, to the intense alarm Of Mrs
Neville, who was vainly ~endeavoring t
check the flow Of blood, which had nov be
come copious, gone off into q dead faint. Or
the arrival of the doctor it appeared that tn
bullet had grazed the walls Of one Of tn
arteries on tie inside Of the thigh withou
actually cutting them, but that they had nov
given way, which rendered it necessary t.
tie the artery. This operation, with tn,
assistance Of chloroform, he proceeded t.
successfully carry out on the spot, announc
ing afterward that a great deal of blood hat
already been lost.
|. When at last it was over, Mrs. Neyill,
asked about John being moyed up to tn
hospital, but the doctor declared that b.
must stop where he was. and that Jess mus
stop and belp to nurse him. with the assist
ance of a soldiers wife he would send down.
"Dear me" said Mrs. Neville, that is very
awkward"
at will be awkwarder il you try to move
him at present" was the grim reply, ''for the
silk may slip, in which case the artery will
probably break out again, and he will bleed
to DEATH"
AS for Jess, she said nothing, but set tx
work to make preparations for her task Of
nursing. As fate had once more thrown
them together, she accepted the position
gladly, though it is only fair to say that she
would not have sought it.
In about an hours time, just as John was
beginning to recover from the painful effects
of the chloroform, the soldiers wife who was
to assist her in nursing arrived. She was, as
Jess soon discovered, not only a low stamp Of
woman, but both careless and ignorant int